Inscription discovery of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan-I the one who recovered Madurai
An information was provided by Ilangovan.M an Engineer, regarding a broken fragment of the inscription lying in Chanavayal, Sivagangai district, on the border of Pudukottai district. A.Manganoor the founder of Pudukottai Archaeological Research Institute and Thanjavur Tamil University Department of Archaeology and a team led by Manikandan discovered an inscription of the sixth reignal year of Sundarapandiyan who recovered Madurai.The details about this inscription as said by A.Manikandan is described below
Inscription Location:
It is found in Sivagangai district, on the border of Pudukottai district, Devakottai circle, Koduvur Panchayat ,Chanavayal Perumal Mound, a broken slab inscription was found .The slab was around four and a half feet high and one and a half feet wide, with 114 lines on three sides, of which 103 lines are legible, the end of the inscription is fully defaced and ends with Sri Maheswarar Raksha. .
Date and Message of the Inscription:
In the sixth year of the reign of MaravarmanTiruphuvana Emperor Sundarapandian he ended the rule of the Cholas (1222 AD) in the month of Tai(as per the Tamil calendar), for the Nayanar temple of Thiruth Thiruthenkur Vodiyar Thirunageeswaram of Thalayur Nattu, Chitanur, Sri Koil Sri Rudra, Sri Maheswarar, Padikariyanj all including Semponmari government Malva Manikka, This inscription records the news that Vodayaar, the son of Thirukhana, had paid a price to the Malava Chakravartis and gave land to the temple in the name of Sempian Pallavarayar, Vada Bampatu Kalithangi Mangalattu Ponpadhi Vodayan Sentanuiya Vandan Sembian Pallavarayar, for eternal rest including Amudupadi Sathupadi to the temple.
Exemption of tax and the charge of duty
This inscription shares the information about the duty of Chitanur of Thalayur country and how the distributions were made and the information about the removal, for the land planted with Kurvai rice, it was announced that they would take one half of the duty for removing the waste and for the land planted with millet, it was announced that they would take one quarter of the duty for removing the waste.
Signatories to the inscription:
Gopalai Pattan Tirunaheeswaramudayan, Mummudi Cholan Aiyanambi, Thiruvegamban Koothadi Kortapattananana, Thirnasambandapattan, AzhitherVidhakan, Ponma Maligaya Pillai, Sikariyam Sundarapperumal, Koikanakka Nagadevan, Srimalavacakkaravathigal , the officials of the temple (Thevaradiyar) have signed in the inscription.
Change of names of towns mentioned in the inscription:
In the Mihalai statement, it is known that Thalayur Nadu is now known as Dahalanur, Chitanur as Sirukanur, Kalithangi Mangalam as Kathiramangalam, Ponbati as Ponbethi, and what has changed is Semponmari and Thiruthenkur with the same name.
Sembonmari:
Sri Lankan history states that the Pandya king Sundarapandian defeated the Cholas at Semponmari (d. 1219 AD) in the third regnal year. This inscription adds strength to this historical information. Malava Manikkam, who was an official with the most important political power in the Sembonmari government, became the chief minister. This inscription records the acquisition of land from the Malava emperors. .
Ponpadhi Kavalan Senthan:
During the reign of Vira Rasendra Chola, Buddha Mithran wrote a five-syllable book in the city of Ponpethi (Ponpeti) and named it Vira Sozhiyam. Perunthevanar, wrote the text for this book, was a student of Buddha Mittra and in his text, one of Buddha Mittra’s ancestors, Ponpadhi (Ponpethi) Kavalan Senthan who was the commander of Tontaiman, mentions the news of the victory over the Sinhalese Arayan and Villavan. “Ponpadhi Udayan Sentanuiya Vandan” Sempiyan Pallavaraya is the name of this inscription which gives evidence that Ponpadhi Kavalan came from Senthan.He said that this inscription contains very important historical information and it will be a proof of historical studies.
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